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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing worry about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Existing Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi requires national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already fissures in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific toll of the attack demonstrates that current firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

The nation has grown overconfident and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Ahead: Proposed Reforms

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new gun laws. New South Wales in particular will shortly enact a suite of reforms to reduce the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a new gun buyback, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Frequent Objections

There is the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Need and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Farm work or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that future generations are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.